The Halloween Mantel

It’s been a little while since I updated any sort of decor in my house, but one of the most neglected areas has been the mantel. This is basically how it has looked for the past… six months?

Generally speaking, our house is decorated in shades of cool blue, white, and green. I’ve mentioned before that I don’t like “hot” colors– reds and oranges and yellows mess with my eyesight (I have weird vision problems), but this actually turns into an issue once the fall rolls around. How can you decorate for Halloween if you don’t like the color orange?

I’ve been cycling out the same props on the mantel for over a year now, and this Halloween decor is no exception. I’ve probably invested about $40-50 total in props that have been getting me through the year no problem. Almost everything on the mantel below is from Ikea!

Using two mismatching Ikea frames (one is a Fjallsta, one is a Virserum), I printed out two black-on-white Halloween images using free Photoshop shapes. The spindly tree I like particularly, because it matches the tree stickers that are up in the living room as well.

The willow branches are available year-round from Ikea for about $5, as is the set of white candles on the right. The three tapers are from Ikea too– we picked those up from the Christmas tent last year, I think. The snuffer is from Cost Plus, and was purchased for about $7-10.

The starburst clock is vintage, a piece David picked up on eBay long before we lived together. It never really moves, and somehow fits every holiday. This mantle so far reminds me of, like, Mad Men meets American Horror Story. Like if someone decided they needed to make a mod Haunted House.

I was thinking that this mantle was a little bare, so I dug around in the garage and found some decor from last year’s haunted house:

The giant cardboard spider didn’t cost us a thing– and totally completes this Halloween Mantel.